DRIVE A’s new album The World In Shambles arrives in stores today via the band’s own imprint Dead Conflict Records(distributed by EMI.)

The LA rockers just wrapped up a tour with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and are about to head out on the Rock Allegiance Tour with BUCKCHERRY, PAPA ROACH, PUDDLE OF MUD, P.O.D., RED and CROSSFADE. That tourgets underway August 24th in Grand Prarie, TX and runs through September 25th.

Drive A has also been tapped to perform at THE 2011 Epicenter Festival in Irvine, CA on September 24th with LIMP BIZKIT,

Sometimes a chance meeting is more than it seems – in the case of Drive A, a random moment ignited a fuse resulting in a incendiary new band. Songs about rebellion, crunchy guitars and killer hooks have their foundation in old school punk and rock n’ roll that the band reveres but their stage presence and delivery is fresh and in the now. With a fan following that is expanding exponentially, it’s clear that the band is onto something. Drive A come roaring into 2011 with their brand new album, The World in Shambles, out on Dead Conflict Records this Spring.

The World in Shambles is the follow up to their debut album Loss of Desire (2009). The critically acclaimed album which featured singles “Are You Blind” and “Can’t Sleep It Off” set the precedent for Drive A’s form of high energy rock n’ roll and provided the soundtrack for their energetic live show. Frontman Bruno Mascolo explains “although we’re still proud of Loss of Desire, we feel we’ve come along way as musicians and songwriters, you can hear that we’ve played about 200 shows since our last record.” The band freely admits that their singular mission upon entering the studio was to craft an album that bottled their firecracker live energy and onstage prowess. They collectively rejected polished, computerized techniques and technologies in favor of beautiful, genuine imperfections, all of which serve to make The World in Shambles that much more authentic.

“We wanted to make something that was raw, and that sounded like our band when we played live,” Bruno Mascolo said. “Songwriting is the essence of the band but playing live is how we truly connect with people, with that in mind we recorded The World in Shambles completely live, there were no click tracks, so what you hear is what we sound like. It was about capturing the energy and not trying to achieve perfection.”

Armed with a killer arsenal of songs, the band decided to drive their message with an image that is uncompromising and disciplined. “Today, it’s all about how you look,” Nott said. “It’s like ‘This is a metal band’ or ‘This is a rock band. People get so obsessed with what genre a band is a part of that they forget to even listen to the music. We got sick of wearing other band’s shirts on stage because people started labeling us as part of that scene. We want people to care about our music, not about what bands we like. With the new album came the new image. We wear patches with our logo and we have another patch for a character on the album, called ‘The Marked Man.'”

“He is the underdog, the guy who dwells on his problems until eventually he creates a target on himself. We have all gone through that,” Mascolo concurred. “We wear the uniforms on stage because it puts every thing on the music but we aren’t wearing meaningless patches, they hint at the message behind the band.”

The band’s logo is their take on the anarchy flag, but instead of paying lip service to the concept without ever doing anything to bring about change, Drive A hope to actually incite listeners to action. Mascolo said, “We’re not going to say ‘Fuck the government’ on stage. We want to encourage fans who are living a one-sided life, who go to school, college and then get a job and wonder if that’s it, to go after their dreams.”

On The World in Shambles the band wanted to shake up their comfort zone, so instead of working with longtime friend Dennis Hill (producer of Drive A’s 2009 debut Loss of Desire) the band recorded the album in two parts. The first session was recorded on analog equipment to tape at 1974 Studios in Silver Lake with Dave Cobb and the second session took place at Sunset Sound with Julian Raymond. Despite the band’s “Fuck You” attitude towards concepts like conformity and fitting in with a “scene,” Mascolo mentions that a current of positive energy courses through the album’s veins. “There is a positive message at the end of every song,” he admitted. “The idea of singing about a negative subject can sometimes be therapeutic, but most of the time it becomes cliché and loses the original meaning.” “Revolt!” is about Mascolo’s travels abroad, specifically in Europe, last summer. “It seemed more like a community over there,” the singer mused. “There is a real lack of community here, people are just so about themselves, but it’s not like that overseas.” The title track “Let’s Have a Wreck” is another personal song that lays its cards face up on the table. Mascolo revealed that the song is about “having an addiction to destroying situations or relationships,” a construct that all of Drive A’s fans are able to connect with.

The California quartet formed after singer/guitarist Bruno Mascolo and guitarist Jason Nott ran into each other one night outside of Hollywood’s Troubadour in 2006. Bassist Taylor Knowles joined the band after seeing them open for Set Your Goals in Orlando. He became a fan based on their live performance and when the bass player position opened, he got in touch through the wonders of social networking and secured his slot in the rhythm section.

Drive A has steadily built a following of fans by touring with the likes of Alkaline Trio, The Used, Atreyu, Bullet For My Valentine and Escape the Fate over the past two years. It’s the band’s onstage power that has attracted an alliance of kids that continue to multiply with every tour. Nott summed up the band’s relationship with their fans and the crowds, saying, “We’re a breath of fresh air for them. We’re only a couple years older than the kids listening and they can relate.”

Drive A’s hungry guitar snarl meshes with power chords that take up residence in your head for weeks at a time and surprisingly mature songwriting that reveals equal parts pathos and animosity towards the status quo. The World in Shambles is proof that Drive A are well on their way.

“Generation Why?”, the mind-blowing debut album from Chicago thrashers Diamond Plate, is out now in North America!

Hailing from the hotbed of modern metal talent, Diamond Plate are the hottest new band on the thrash scene. Taking influence from the likes of Exodus, Testament and Nuclear Assault, these young metallers are set to take America by storm with their shredding debut album.

“Generation Why?” features 11 ripping tracks of world-class thrash, and is available now in North America from these stores:

Former DEEP PURPLE keyboardist Jon Lord has posted the following message on his website today:

“I would like all my friends, followers, fans and fellow travelers to know that I am fighting cancer and will therefore be taking a break from performing while getting the treatment and cure. I shall of course be continuing to write music – in my world it just has to be part of the therapy – and I fully expect to be back in good shape next year.

God bless and see you soon, Jon.”

Lord’s webmaster states: “May we also, at Jon’s request, ask if everyone could please respect his need for privacy so that he can spend time with his family (and his music). Thank you.”

Century Media and its associated labels “InsideOutMusic”, “Superballmusic”, “Ain’t no Grave Records”, “Hollywood Waste” and “People Like You” have decided to pull their repertoire from Spotify in an attempt to protect the interests of their artists.

While everyone at the label group believes in the ever changing possibilities of new technology and new ways of bringing music to the fans, Century Media is also of the opinion that Spotify in its present shape and form isn’t the way forward. The income streams to the artists are affected massively and therefore that accelerates the downward spiral, which eventually will lead to artists not being able to record music the way it should be recorded. Ultimately, in some cases, it will completely kill a lot of smaller bands that are already struggling to make ends meet.

At the same time Century Media also believes that Spotify is a great tool to discover new music and is in the process of reintroducing their bands to Spotify by way of putting up samplers of the artists. This way, fans can still discover the great music released by the label.

Physical sales are dropping drastically in all countries where Spotify is active. Artists are depending on their income from selling music and it is our job to support them to do so. Since the artists need to sell their music to continue their creativity, Spotify is a problem for them. This is about survival, nothing less and it is time that fans and consumers realize that for artists it is essential to sell music to keep their heads above water.

Obviously it is ultimately up to the music fan and consumer, how they access their music, whether it is buying, streaming or stealing. There needs to be awareness though, that how you will consume your music has direct consequences for the artists, who we are all trying to support.

A lyric video is now available for the remixed version of Breaking Benjamin’s “Blow Me Away,” the lead track from the upcoming greatest hits collection titled Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin. The song features vocals from Syd Duran of the band Valora and is available for fans on iTunes now. The song will be part of a two disc collection of Breaking Benjamin’s chart-topping hits including “Breath,” So Cold,” “I Will Not Bow,” and more. The release will also feature an entire second disc of rare recordings, never-before-released songs, live performances, rare acoustic recordings and remixes. Look for Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin in stores and online August 16th, 2011.

Don’t judge a CD by its cover. Lets face it, the CD cover for Manraze’s sophomore effort, PunkFunkRootsRock is pretty darn ugly. Don’t let the ugly cover stop you for checking this CD out, as the music is good…..damn good in fact.

I have been looking forward to this CD, ever since Phil Collen told Hard Hock Hideout about it back in May. I liked Manraze’s debut Surreal a lot, so picking this one up was a no brainer for this hard rock fan. I can gladly say, this is no sophomore slump for Manraze. PunkFunkRootsRock is every bit as good as its predecessor, if not better.

The album starts off with a very Def Leppard like tune “Over My Dead Body”. This is a great song, and an instant hit in my opinion.

“I C U in Everything” also has a Def Leppard like feel, but Phil sings in a lower register that reminds me of (dare I say) Marilyn Manson. He doesn’t sing this way for the whole song, and I think it gives the tune a very cool vibe.

“All I Wanna Do” has a cool 70’s like feel to it. This pop/rock tune is pretty darn catchy.

The CD takes an unexpected reggae-like twist with the song “Closer To Me “. I like reggae every now and then, and I must admit that I like “Closer To Me ” quite a bit. You wouldn’t think a song like this would work on a CD like this, but it does.

“Lies” is a another great rocker. This is an infectious tune that sounds great cranked at maximum volume.

When I first read that Manraze was covering Jimi Hendrix, I was fearful that this cover might blow. Hendrix is such a hard act to cover. Few bands have pulled it off very well. Needless to say, Manraze knocked their cover of “Fire” out of the park. This is an extremely cool version of this song. I love it!

Phil Collen shows that he has plenty of rock left in him with the song, “I, Superbiker”. Hearing a song like this, gives me hope that Def Leppard can one day return to its hard rockin’ roots. Phil shreds on this track. This is killer stuff!!

If Phil Collen, Simon Laffy and Paul Cook keep making CD’s like this, they are going to be in high demand as a live act. This is really good stuff, and there isn’t a bad song in the bunch.

If you liked the first Manraze album, Surreal, then you should definitely check out PunkFunkRootsRock. I think you will enjoy it.

NYC rock group EVE TO ADAM have just released a video for their current single, “Run Your Mouth” which is featured on their forthcoming album Banquet for a Starving Dog (available everywhere 9/13.) The video for “Run Your Mouth” was directed by the Diamond Brothers and features guest appearances by such Hollywood notables as Dann Florek (Law & Order: SVU), Vincent Pastore (Sopranos), Chuck Zito (from HBO series OZ) and award-winning Indian television star Kavita Kaushik.

“Run Your Mouth” is also now available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.

The band is currently out on the road with Saving Abel. For a full list of tour dates check out the band’s Facebook and Official Site.